Yeah, they told the designers that it was a contest to develop a
vehicle that could "bring rations and supplies to troops in the field."

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

Jim

On Oct 10, 2005, at 12:30 PM, Jeffrey Schwaia wrote:

> I love the comment:
>
> "Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare safer for humans"
>
> Uh??
>
> Must've been written on a Friday.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
> Of Larry Alofs
> Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 5:38 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Touareg wins Grand Challenge (NVC)
>
>
>   `Stanley' wins $2 million robot race
>
> By Alicia Chang
> Associated Press
> Published October 10, 2005
>
> PRIMM, Nev. -- A driverless Volkswagen won a $2 million race across the
> rugged Nevada desert Sunday, beating four other robot-guided vehicles
> that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare
> safer for humans.
>
> The race displayed major technological leaps since last year's
> inaugural
> race, in which none of the self-driving vehicles crossed the finish
> line.
>
> Stanley the VW Touareg, designed by Stanford University, zipped through
> the 132-mile Mojave Desert course in six hours and 53 minutes Saturday,
> using only its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough and
> twisting
> desert and mountain trails.
>
> The Stanford team celebrated by popping champagne and pouring it over
> the mud-covered Stanley.
>
> "This car, to me, is really a piece of history," Stanford computer
> scientist Sebastian Thrun said after receiving an oversized check for
> the $2 million prize, funded by taxpayers. He said he did not know how
> he would spend the money, but joked that he needed to buy cat food.
>
> Stanford spent $500,000 on the race, some of which was provided by
> sponsors.
>
> In second place was a red Humvee from Carnegie Mellon University called
> Sandstorm, followed by a customized Hummer called H1ghlander. Coming in
> fourth was a Ford Escape Hybrid named Kat-5, designed by students in
> Metairie, La., who lost about a week of practice and some of whom lost
> homes when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
>
> The Humvee, which finished in seven hours and four minutes, traveled
> farther than any other vehicle last year despite completing only 71/2
> miles of the course.
>
> A fifth vehicle, a 16-ton truck named TerraMax, was the last to finish
> the course Sunday, though not within the contest's 10-hour deadline.
> Its
> operators paused it Saturday night so it wouldn't have to race in
> darkness.
>
> It's unclear how the Pentagon plans to harness the technology used in
> the race for military applications. But Thrun said he wanted to design
> automated systems to make next-generation cars safer for everyone, not
> just the military.
>
> "If it was only for the military, I wouldn't be here today," Thrun
> said.
>
> Called the Grand Challenge, the race began Saturday with a field of 23
> autonomous vehicles. Eighteen failed to complete the course because of
> mechanical failures or sensor problems. Even so, most covered more
> distance than Sandstorm did last year.
>